


Culture Differences

by i_love_schmaltz



Series: Culture Differences [2]
Category: Original Work, humans are space orcs - Fandom, humans are weird - Fandom
Genre: Alien/Human Relationships, Cross Species Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Minor Character Death, if i feel like it, maybe smut, so it might happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:34:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24917650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_love_schmaltz/pseuds/i_love_schmaltz
Summary: This story follows Ajirabi as she meets and befriends those terrifying deathworlders from Earth: Humans. She finds that not all of them are out for blood and some are even out for love. yeah, it's cliche, fight me.
Relationships: Ajirabi Ineri/Dylan McLaine, Molly Farrow/Michael Morrisey
Series: Culture Differences [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795423
Comments: 13
Kudos: 36





	1. Orientation

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, chapter one of Culture Differences. It took me a few days cause I was only writing about 200 words per day. But today I buckled down and cranked out the final 400 some odd words. In this first chapter Ajirabi and Molly are introduced. Dylan will come next chapter.

"You are certain that you have packed everything you may need?" she said in their native language, "Oh wait! Where is your fur brush?"

Ajirabi was a bit taken aback. Her mother never worried over her like this. Her mother never seemed to be sentimental at all. So, this was new for her. She thought maybe this was a test to see if she was truly prepared.

"Yes mother, I have my fur brush, I have my files, I have everything that I need", She began pulling things from her luggage and presenting them to her mother as she listed them off, " What has you so worried, Mother? You never seemed to worry this much when I went to away to my various schooling camps."

Her mother took a few steps forward and sat next to her. She began stroking Ajirabi's fur down the back of her head, "Well, you never had to leave the planet for those opportunities, Ajirabi", she scooted to face her daughter more head-on, "and, now you will be so far away --outside our galaxy even, how will I know you are okay? That ship doesn't have the best communications system."

Ajirabi sat there for a moment, thinking of ways she may be able to put her mother's mind at ease. Indeed, the ship she'd be working on for the next 4 years didn't have the most up to date equipment, communications systems notwithstanding.

Before she could come up with any such solution to her mother's dilemma, her alarm went off, signaling it was time to depart for the ship dock.

"Oh, my apologies, mother I need to be going now", she stood to leave, "I am certain that everything will be fine."

As she made her way out the door to begin her journey to the train station, she heard her mother say behind her, "I hope so."

Ajirabi followed a little way behind the Kulal that met her at the ship dock. He was rather short as far as Kulals go, but she did not put much thought into that, she was abnormally tall for a Felinoran herself at 4' 5".

Where this Kulal did not stray from normality was with his demeanor. He was, as were most all Kulals, very impersonal, not speaking unless what had to be said contained some relevant information.

They were walking through the corridor, when he came to an abrupt stop, "This is the crew common room", he said. He slid the door open, showing a spacious area with multiple seating options surrounding the center of the room, off to the side was what appeared to be an area designed for the preparation and consumption of food.

He walked in a little further and gestured to one side of the room, revealing 4 doors, "The doors on the left side of the common room lead off to the female dorms, there is one person per room", he gestured to the other side, "the doors on the right side lead off to the male dorms."

"Towards the back, you will find the necessities area, where you can wash your clothes and utilize other services", and with that, he spun on his heel and walked out of the common room leaving Ajirabi alone.

Ajirabi looked around the common for a few moments. The man that lead her here wasn't all that helpful, but then again she was sure she could have gotten by without his help.

She made her way over to the door that would lead to her room and opened it when she was hit with something quite large and she fell to the ground, her belongings scattering across the common room floor.

"Oh. My. God!" she heard. she was about to lift herself off the ground but she never got the chance as whatever it was that knocked her down did it for her before speaking again, "I am so sorry! I should've been watching where I was going."

She looked up to find a human much taller than herself oddly rubbing Ajirabi's shoulders as if she was trying to clean her. It was at this moment that it registered to her what exactly she just bumped into. A Human.

"I-I-I-I sorry!" she was so scared that her English began to break, "Me didn't mean to!"

The human took a few alarmed steps back, seemingly assessing the situation. The next thing she did was to get on her knees, to make herself seem less threatening.

"Woah there", she spoke in a soothing voice, an attempt to diffuse the situation, "It's okay, no one is getting hurt here, especially not you."

She held out her hand, causing Ajirabi to flinch, "Let's start with introductions. I'm Molly Farrow, what's your name?"

Ajirabi stood stock still, staring at the human's hand as if it were a hre'esha ready to bite her, only barely registering this human's words through her fear. 

She began to calm slightly. As she regained her senses the remembered how humans greet each other and took the human's hand in her own, shaking it.

"I am Ajirabi Ineri."

The human, Molly, bared her teeth for a moment before suddenly snapping her mouth shut, startling Ajirabi. She wasn't sure why Molly did that but thought it might have something to do with her perceiving Molly as a threat.

"Sorry, I don't really know how much you know about human psychology", she barked out a laugh before taking a look around the floor, "We should probably get your stuff off the floor, do you need any help finding your room? I know this place like the back of my hand."

Ajirabi was confused, 'like the back of your hand'? In what way does the ship resemble the back of your hand. Human-Molly must have been well versed in the facial expressions of other species because she soon clarified.

"Oh, no that phrase just means I know the layout very well", she said as she began gathering some of Ajirabi's things. "Here", she handed Ajirabi one of her items, "What is that thing, anyway?"

Ajirabi looked down at the object that was just placed into her hand, it was one of her files. "Oh, this is a claw file, I use it to keep my claws dull so that I do not hurt anybody."

Human-Molly shook her head up and down, a sign of approval or confirmation, "So that's why I don't have a scratch on me", she laughed at her own joke.

Ajirabi, missing the joke went to respond, "Uh, yes that was the reason I file my claws so that I do not injure people with them.

Human-Molly seemed to accept this answer as she further helped Ajirabi collect her things.

Ajirabi's dorm was rather bland. But, what could be expected from an outdated ship? They entered and Molly helped Ajirabi properly unpack her things, placing what she didn't know the place of on the bed for her to store later.

"So, what's your role in all this," Molly asked.

Ajirabi was not skilled in deciphering human colloquialisms, but she tried her best. "My role... is to maintain the ship's floral food supply."

Molly nodded, "I see, it's your job to keep us healthy with vegetables and stuff?", she said as she began placing some of Ajirabi's books on a shelf.

Ajirabi was trying to be busy organizing her care items. She was not comfortable with having a human in her quarters but could not bring herself to ask her to leave. What if she got mad? Then she would be in trouble. 

Everyone knows the legends detailing the violent nature of the human species. 

Keeping them as crew on your ship was a dangerous thing. Some ships employed staff whose sole purpose was to appease the humans under their employ. To keep the humans happy, to keep them from becoming angry, which can happen very easily.

But oftentimes it was worth it. Human resilience was renowned, as was their work ethic. They had been known to stay awake for several days with no sleep just to finish an assignment given to them in the fastest time possible.

But this work ethic also made them more volatile at times.

Except that Ajirabi would not be able to ignore the human and hope she went away. She wanted to engage in 'small talk'.

She deflected with a question of her own, she heard that some humans liked very much to talk about themselves, "What is it that you do here, Human-Molly?"

It seemed that her hypothesis was sound, because Human-Molly immediately perked up, "Ooh girl, lemme tell you. I'm an engineer. It's my job to keep the propulsion systems and the generators that power them in good working order. Now, you think that might not be an issue but let me tell you..."

Her plan was working it seemed. Human-Molly went on for almost 45 minutes on how generator 4 'for the life of her' would not remain operational for more than a few weeks at a time.

Ajirabi was content with this though because it meant she could focus on organizing her quarters the way she liked without having to speak to the human. All that was required of her was that she acknowledge that Human-Molly was speaking every few minutes or so.

Eventually, Ajirabi began showing signs of fatigue. Human-Molly must have noticed because she immediately stopped her story on how Michael, who was her 'boyfriend', was irritating her, and stood, "You look like you're about to fall over girl, you might want to get some sleep", she said as she made her way to the door, "Let me get outta your hair."

With that Ajirabi was alone in her quarters with nothing but her thoughts. So that was a human?


	2. More Humans?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ajirabi tries her best to interact with the humans, but she's just not sure she can do it. Molly feels bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter than I initially intended, but when does it ever work out how you intended when you're flying by the seat of your pants. I cut it off where I did because I felt it flowed better or some crap. Don't listen to me, this is my first serious effort at writing a multichapter work.

Ajirabi woke for her first official day aboard the Vernmo mass transport ship. It was her job to ensure that plant-based food production was running smoothly. She prepared herself for the day and made her way to her locker to collect the tools she would need for her day.

She made her way from station to station, checking the levels of everything each plant needed to make sure they were at appropriate levels and documented any changes she needed to make.

This went on for several hours until the alarm rang, signaling the end of shift. Ajirabi put her things away and began making her way down the corridor and towards the common room when she ran into a familiar face.

It was Molly. She came up beside Ajirabi, "'Sup Rabi, how are you settling in?"

"I am finding it--", she paused, perhaps she misheard when Ajirabi introduced herself, "Oh, my name is Ajirabi."

Molly giggled, "I know, I'm using a nickname"

"A nickname?" Ajirabi asked.

"Yeah, a nickname, it's something you call someone when you consider them a friend."

Ajirabi thought about this, "I see, I... I hope you forgive me if I do not call you by a nickname."

Ajirabi was expecting some form of anger from the human, but Molly just waved her off, "Oh, you're alright, you don't  _ have _ to call me by a nickname, Molly is fine."

By this point, they had reached the common room. Molly and Ajirabi began making their food when another person entered.

"Hey, Molls!"

Molly turned and her face instantly lit up, "Michael!"

Ajirabi's blood ran cold. She was surprised to even see one human aboard this ship, not only is there a second human, it is a male human! What were they thinking, employing a male human!?

Ajirabi shoved her food into her mouth and ate it all at once.

Sprinting out of the common room, she heard Molly behind her, "Woah, Rabi where's the fire!?"

But she never got a response. Ajirabi was already rushing through the corridor, hoping she did not get caught by a supervisor and reprimanded.

She made it to her room and shut the door behind her. That is where she stayed until it was time for her to sleep.

* * *

Some time passed since the terrifying encounter with the male human. Not that anything bad happened, just being in the same room as it was terrifying enough.

Ajirabi had been walking with Molly to the common room every day to get her food, which she would take back with her to her room.

There she would eat her food and sleep, returning her dishes to the common room kitchen the next day.

Today, as she was walking with Molly to the common room, she turned to her, "Rabi, I know you're not too comfortable with Michael, but he isn't all that bad once you get to know him! Do you maybe wanna give eating with us a try?"

Ajirabi was hesitant, she feared humans enough, she did not want to be in the company of two of them. But she was going to be working on this ship for the next 4 years, she would not be able to avoid them forever. 

She had known Molly for a few days now, and while she still did not completely trust her, she was comfortable enough in her presence now and she guessed if Molly was comfortable in Michael's presence she could be too. Given she doesn't do anything to anger him.

"I can--", she took a breath, "If you say it will be okay, then I will give it a try."

Molly gave a close-mouthed smile, "It  _ will _ be okay, you'll see."

As they entered the common room, Ajirabi noticed that Michael was already there. She froze and tried backing out of the common room, she was not sure if she could do this, Molly predicted this though because she already had a hand on Ajirabi's back.

Molly bent down to whisper in Ajirabi's ear, "It's okay, Rabi. Here, if it makes you feel any better, I can act as a liaison."

That offer did make Ajirabi feel better.

As the three ate, they conversed. More specifically, Molly and Michael conversed, Ajirabi mostly just sat there, listening to their conversation and occasionally interjecting a thought when she felt brave enough. As of now, she was too anxious to do more.

It was not until the door opened and a third human entered that anything changed.

Ajirabi turned to see a new human face and she stiffened. He was a few inches short of six feet tall with light brown hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a standard pilot's uniform, forest green pants, and a button-up shirt.

Molly waved over to him, "Oh, Dylan! Come meet our new friend, Rabi!"

This new human, Dylan seemed to have a reserved demeanor as he made no indication that he had heard Molly at all, yet he still approached to sit at the table. Making eye contact with Ajirabi, he gave a quick smile.

This suddenly became too much for her as her anxiety hit an all-time high. She fled the common room towards her dorm.

Maybe the next few days will be less stressful.

* * *

Ajirabi had not seen Molly in a few days as she had been avoiding her. She knew that if she came across Molly, she would want to make her sit with the other humans again, and Ajirabi did not want that. She has had her fill of humans for a while.

She was making her way back to her dorm room when she caught a glimpse of said human in her peripheral vision.

Molly never got the chance to call for Ajirabi's attention because, by the time Molly made it down to where she was at, Ajirabi had already slipped into her room.

She knocked on the door. "Hey, Rabi?"

No answer, so she knocked again. "Please Ajirabi, I know you're in there, I saw you go in. Please, just talk to me."

There was silence for a few moments before the door cracked opened, revealing a single Felinoran eye on the other side.

Ajirabi spoke first, poorly feigning innocence, "Oh, hello Molly, how are you doing today?"

Molly gave her a look for a moment before realizing who she was talking to, "Come on Rabi, you know why I'm here."

Ajirabi opened the door fully before speaking again, "Right, I am sorry Molly, but I am not hungry today."

"That's... not exactly why I am here, can I come in?"

"Oh uh, yes, come in", Ajirabi hesitantly stepped to the side, allowing Molly entrance.

Molly walked over to the chair by Ajirabi's desk and sat down. Waiting for her to do the same before she spoke.

When she did, Molly began, "Listen, I wanted to say I'm sorry for how much I've been pushing you since you got here, I'm aware of the kinds of stories told about humans.

"I thought that maybe if I could get someone to know us then I could try undoing some of the damage that those stupid stories have done.

"I probably just caused  _ more _ damage. I saw how anxious you were, but I figured that if by the end you found that you didn't need to fear humans, it would have been worth it.

"I put you through that and I'm sorry."

Ajirabi sat silent for several moments, letting Molly's words sink in before speaking, "I accept your apology. I understood what you were trying to do and tried my best to see for myself.

"But, when every history book, in addition to what you have been taught since you were born, says that Humanity is the most violent in the universe...

"It is hard to see a human as anything other than a brute that could snap and kill anyone in its sight at a moment's notice.

"I understand that you just wanted me to see humans differently, but I do not think that is going to happen."

By the time Ajirabi was done, Molly was on the verge of tears. She always  _ thought  _ she knew what the stories said about humans, but she never even imagined it would be ingrained into people from birth.

Maybe it  _ is  _ impossible to undo all the damage that humanity's personal history has done.

She let out a weak 'okay' before silently standing and exiting the room in search of her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did say that I would introduce Dylan this chapter, and while I did technically do that, I know that's probably not really what you guys had in mind. I just felt like it worked out better this way, but don't worry, there will be more from Dylan in the next chapter, and probably every chapter after that.
> 
> Edit: I realize after a couple of days that I may have made Ajirabi seem like a bit of a bitch at the end there. This is not who she is, she is actually a very kind and caring person once you get through the pile of anxiety towards humans.


End file.
